Going out of business notice free via Frys.com

Ha wow, not surprised TBH. Of the few times I've been to one, I was never impressed by the outlandish footprint of "stuff".

 
Last time I went to mines it seemed like a ghost town, like half the store was empty, no customers, had to hunt down employees, and most of the merchandise seemed outdated or off brand.

Sucks for the employees though
 
At least Circuit City had the dignity to have months of massive liquidation sales. Fry’s just stayed open for three years until they sold the majority of their merchandise at MSRP and then locked the door. 😜
 
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I only got to go once while I was in Texas for business. It was pretty awesome, but that was over 10 years ago.

 
Like everyone else, the one near is basically staff by family or members of, what I'd guess, is the GM's family. There are literally 20-30 employees just walking around a huge store with 5-10 customers. 

Sucks, even now and then they had decent deals on electronics but overall, they were a non-factor in recent years. 

 
So are their stores still open? Selling stuff for cheap?

**EDIT** Stores just closed. I guess they are sending merch back to the companies?

 
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SgtWiggles said:
Last time I went to mines it seemed like a ghost town, like half the store was empty, no customers, had to hunt down employees, and most of the merchandise seemed outdated or off brand.

Sucks for the employees though
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I’m pretty sure you just described KMart.
 
etcrane said:
At least Circuit City had the dignity to have months of massive liquidation sales. Fry’s just stayed open for three years until they sold the majority of their merchandise at MSRP and then locked the door.
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Freeze Time said:
So are their stores still open? Selling stuff for cheap?

**EDIT** Stores just closed. I guess they are sending merch back to the companies?
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Fry's switched to a mostly consignment model a while back. tl;dr since then they've no longer purchased most of their inventory, as retailers usually do. Instead, they were only paying suppliers if and when products sold. https://www.ocregister.com/2019/10/07/frys-electronics-hanging-on-but-for-how-long/

I'd take it that means there's not much to liquidate, since most of the product is just going to get sent back to suppliers.

 
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etcrane said:
At least Circuit City had the dignity to have months of massive liquidation sales. Fry’s just stayed open for three years until they sold the majority of their merchandise at MSRP and then locked the door.
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Frys has been barely hanging on for a few years now. In the last couple of years they switched from a standard model of buying product and selling it, to instead only stocking merchandise via consignment. This would mean they were at the mercy of vendors, and if they thought a store wasn't going to sell product, or didn't trust them to pay for the product, then stores would have fewer items to stock. This also means that they have no merchandise to liquidate, it's all going back to whoever put it on Frys shelves. So stores that haven't had much of any stock, or that had a lot of cheap, off-brand looking things just weren't doing enough business to keep getting items.

 
They should have closed back in 2019 ... their stores were barely hanging on pre-pandemic. It was sad to see their decline over time, growing up in San Jose they always had the best prices and guaranteed stock on harder to find games. By the time they switched business models, they were pretty much already dead and just shambling around. I think the last time Fry’s was still relevant was 2016/2017 ... anything after that was more of a novelty visit that just got worse and worse. This can only come as a surprise to people who haven’t been in a Fry’s for at least 5 years.
 
I never went to one of their stores since I live on the east coast but I used to order a lot of clearance games from their website for a few dollars mostly during the PS2/GameCube/Xbox era. I forgot about them since my last order was at least 6 or 7 years ago.
 
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zeldafanjtl said:
Fry's switched to a mostly consignment model a while back. tl;dr since they they've no longer purchased most of their inventory, as retailer usually do. Instead, they were only paying suppliers if and when products sold. https://www.ocregister.com/2019/10/07/frys-electronics-hanging-on-but-for-how-long/

I'd take it that means there's not much to liquidate, since most of the product is just going to get sent back to suppliers.
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That’s correct, also they stopped carrying name brand TVs and audio equipment. Not a whole lot you’d want to buy if they could do a liquidation. Mine was mostly filled with as seen on tv products.
 
Frys is just another poorly managed electronics store that sold most products above competitors' prices, and never did much to streamline their costs. I remember going to their store and wondering how they stayed in business selling movies at 3 to 5 times the price of Best Buy, and having an empty concession place inside a huge store that looked like it barely sold anything.

Well, it takes a long time for companies like this to actually belly up. Like Radio Shack and Circuit City, failing retailers typically are already "dead" years before they really fold up. Frys is just another in a long line of them.
 
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I got a 4TB Xbox drive from them in 2018. That couldn’t have been on consignment. Also wtf consignment? That’s like for old furniture and Knick knacks. How could they have possibly thought that would work.
 
Up until a few years ago the Frys by me was an excellent store. But they'd been noticeably going downhill and even though I work just a half mile away, I hadn't been in there for over a year.

Comp USA 

Circuit City

Incredible Universe

Frys

:cry: 

 
Aww man. I bought so many things from Fry's back when they had the brands and good deals. I legit bought a lot.

Epson 8350 projector on BF
Martin Logan Dynamo 300 sub (still use it)
Martin Logan Depth I sub (still use it)
Klipsch surround sound speakers
Klipsch reference subwoofers
PC parts
Cases
Graphic cards
PC accessories
65" Plasma TV for $2400 back when they sold them

Dozens of Blu-rays... Prob 50-60 (still have them)

MadCatz Tournament Edition Fightsticks (still use them)

Remote control helicopters

And more stuff. Especially the Almond Roca chocolate. That thing was like cocaine.
 
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Confucius said:
I got a 4TB Xbox drive from them in 2018. That couldn’t have been on consignment. Also wtf consignment? That’s like for old furniture and Knick knacks. How could they have possibly thought that would work.
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I don't think the switch to consignment happened until late 2019. They still weren't doing too great before that, but 2019 was really the year where it all just went south. The fact they held on as long as they did in 2020 is amazing.

 
gpn said:
Up until a few years ago the Frys by me was an excellent store. But they'd been noticeably going downhill and even though I work just a half mile away, I hadn't been in there for over a year.

Comp USA

Circuit City

Incredible Universe

Frys

:cry:
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H.H. Gregg

Radio Shack

 
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They're blaming COVID but other personal electronics retailers have made a killing during COVID.  Demand for home office equipment, printers, ink, computers, etc have exploded with so many people working from home.  Home entertainment has also exploded.

 
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stringycupps1 said:
They're blaming COVID but other personal electronics retailers have made a killing during COVID. Demand for home office equipment, printers, ink, computers, etc have exploded with so many people working from home. Home entertainment has also exploded.
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Basically. Ya they just didn't keep up with the times and went the way of many others before them. Best buy made a killing in covid-19 2020.
 
There was always a shady aspect of Fry’s ... you knew you were getting a good price when you shopped there in the 90s, but it also felt like a shell operation for some kind of organized crime ring. They used ancient systems for their pos system, which was always odd considering they sold the latest technology. Their staff was ... interesting, sometimes very knowledgeable but also sort of a unique mix of individuals compared to just about any other retailer at the time. They repackaged and resold a ton of stuff. And for the last 5 or so years there was absolutely no way the business was sustaining itself ... so they had to be making money some other way ...
 
Thats sad, loved that store, just wandering through so much to look at, kid in candy store for nerds.  I really hate the fact where we are doing buying everything online, cant touch or feel it, see if you like it, then have to send crap back, sucks.

 
I only went to Fry's once or twice a year, but it was nice having a B&M store for PC parts. I was hoping to build a new PC sometime this year too. Now, I'll have to travel a little bit further when I want parts and go to Microcenter.

 
Lived by Fry's for a decade. It was fun to swing by and grab a few great deals on clearance Xbox-era games and look at the selection. Loved the themes they did too like

old timey store for oldest operating location
Palo_Alto_Frys_Electronics.jpg


and space in Houston

Fry%27s_Electronics_Webster_TX.jpg


 
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The one in League City is was definitely cool; tons of spacey things inside. Wonder what will happen to those props? The one in Renton was probably my least favorite; just felt like a weird layout.

 
Several years ago, they drew me in at least every few weeks for some weekly coupon code deals they would have on blurays or cheap mice or duck tape or ear buds or flats of iced tea or other random items I didn't need.  It was fun to walk their videogame and bluray/dvd aisles and find random hard to find games at good prices or back when I was scouting rare disney infinity figures. Or to use their website to find clearance deals only to find they had 1 damaged item left at that price when you get there. They also had good sales on consoles and videogames at times, but those deals and their media section in general had decreased dramatically since then.  So that has kept me away for at least 2 years, and in its current state, not a huge loss and somewhat expected given the trends.

 
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About a year ago I was walking through the store and they had a PS3 display demo unit up and running.  You could probably count the number of video games on one hand they had for sale.

I think their bread and butter was PC and electronic components.  General public didn't know to go to a PC building store to buy a TV, fridge, car stereo, and massage chairs.  Their website was terrible and they never refreshed it.  

 
As soon as I remember all these coupon deals, nostalgia takes me. Now there is no such thing. Now all these functions have been upgraded in modern investment applications. Even if you look at the app review https://www.playlouder.com/acorns-vs-robinhood-vs-webull-vs-m1-finance /, then you can select a lot of new things for yourself. For example, I found an application for myself that is a good option for those who have never invested before, do not have an investment strategy, or just need a little guidance in the world of investing. And I am sure that there are still many reliable and convenient applications that help manage finances.

 
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